For the first time in the history of Marathi Cinema, 'Marathi Paul' was a step ahead in a totally virgin area...Africa Continent ! It was a golden moment for Marathi Cinema and also a proud moment all the Marathi people in South Africa.
The occasion was ‘Utkarsh Marathi Film Festival’ that took place from 27th October till 5th November 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
‘Utkarsh Projects Private Limited’ has taken this initiative to promote Indian Movies and related projects in South Africa and creating Cross Cultural relationship in Film Industry (India and South Africa). Rajiv Terwadkar, the mastermind behind this ambitious project, through his company intends to help Indian Film Producers to Partner with South African Producers and Vice Versa and will also arrange necessary local support. This effort by ‘Utkarsh Projects’ is valuable for community in South Africa as it will take over Community Upliftment Projects as a special cause. He will also be launching his own production house in near future.
The slogan for ‘Utkarsh Marathi Film Festival’ depicts the famous lines from a famous poem by Veteran Poet Late. Suresh Bhat, ‘Labhale Aamhas Bhagya Bolato Marathi’. All enthusiastic members of Marathi Mandal are the inspiration and strength behind this event and they voted for shortlisting of Marathi movies chosen for the film festival.
Veteran Actor Mr. Sachin Pilgaonkar alongwith famous actor Mr. Mangesh Desai and our renowned directors, Mr. Kshitij Zarapkar and Mr. Amit Abhyankar were actively supporting the event throughout this period. Mr. Mangesh Desai did all the co-ordination in India.
From South Africa, Core Committee Members, Parikshit Musale, Sarang Mude, Atul Barbuddhe, Santosh Bhate and Mangrish Sanzagiri alongwith volunteers like Aditya Kale, Shantanu Rajurkar were busy in helping 'Utkarsh Projects' for organization of the event.
Shining stars of Marathi Film Industry, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Atul Kulkarni, Mukta Barve, Avadhut Gupte, Bhargavi Chirmule, Mangesh Desai, Santosh Juvekar, Nandu Madhav, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Directors like Amit Abhyankar and Kshitij Zarapkaralongwith Jui Barve arrived on Oliver Tambo Airport, Johannesburg on beautiful morning of 26th October 2012. They had a grand welcome in Traditional Indian manner and also in Traditional African manner, with a cheerful African performance. It was a special moment for all the actors to have this special kind of welcome where two cultures came together to show their gratitude towards our artists.
Our stars were escorted to their accommodation in lavish Mahindra Cars, XUV 500. These cars were sponsored by Mahindra South Africa for full time till the event was finished on 6th November 2012.
Our stars were excited to see the exotic accommodation, 'Vivere Country House' where they resided for the period of event and enjoyed abundance of natural beauty with all the luxuries offered.
A grand press conference took place on 27th October 2012 where all the media representatives and sponsors were addressed and updated with the itinerary of the event. This was a great platform for film industries from both nations, India and South Africa to share their artistic contributions and ideas. This event was a golden opportunity for South Africa to enlarge the areas for job creation and also a substantial help for community building projects.
Exciting evening of 27th October 2012 came with a lavish award ceremony at Gallagher Estate Auditorium, Johannesburg. Heartthrob of Marathi people, Mukta Barve did a refreshing inauguration debut on stage and the auditorium was filled with her shining spirit.
After sharing her thoughts, she invited Living Legend Mr.Sachin Pilgaonkar, Mr.Virendra Gupta, High Commissioner of India, South Africa and Mr. Rajiv Terwadkar, MD, Utkarsh Project for lighting the lamps. 'Utkarsh Marathi Film Festival' was officially inaugurated then.
Mr. Virendra Gupta and Mr. Rajiv Terwadkar welcomed the guests and also shared their views regarding this event. Mr. Sachin Pilgaonkar congratulated Utkarsh Projects and gave his best wishes for the event. He also shared his heartfelt gratitude towards the beautiful country and wished to make a movie on the beautiful land of South Africa.
Local stars from African Film Industry, Diva Moshidi Motshegwa alongwith David Max Brown, Keith Joshua and Letisha Singh added an extra glitter to this event. They offered their valuable time as members of Jury for this event. They were invited on stage for introduction and honored for their contribution.
Marathi Cinema has a special place in hearts of Marathi people worldwide. It offers an array of emotions in our lives while gives a perspective towards many social and political issues in our lives. This true friend of ours is celebrating 100 yrs this year. To honor this gorgeous journey of Marathi Cinema, Mrs. Jui Barve and Mr. Prasad Barve from Sangli, Maharashtra, made a short documentary and offered the heartfelt gratitude to all the stepping stones, those great people who contributed in this glory. Every Marathi mind was touched and stood in pride to see that.
This event was loaded with entertainment and Mr. Kshitij Zarapkar and Mrs. Jui Barve kept the audience thrilled with their 'Pandora Box' that kept on bringing new exciting events on stage.
Our Dancing Diva, Bhargavi Chirmule offered her solo dance performance and proved it again that she rules the stage with this skill.
Mangesh Desai and Bhargavi Chirmule made the audience laugh out of their guts with their comic skit. This duo arrived on stage in lavish 'Porche' and audience was impressed to see the glamour our stars displayed in every aspect. This was the first time in history of such events that our stars were launched on stage in such fancy cars.
Mangesh Desai offered another refreshing flavour of comedy in combination with Santosh Juvekar. Santosh Juvekar came on stage in a superbike and excitement got raised to its peak. His fans appreciated their favourite star who displayed his adventurous nature just as much in his roles.
Local Marathi artists also performed variety entertainment on stage and were overwhelmed to get the appreciation from their favorite stars. African artists offered variety of African performances and gave this event truly African 'Tadka'.
On the occasion of Award Ceremony, Living Legend SachinPilgaonkar was honoured with a special award for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Marathi Cinema’, for contribution with fantastic fifty years of successful career in Marathi Cinema.
Mr. Sachin Khedekar was awarded as 'Best Actor', for the movie, 'Kaksparsh', Medha Manjrekar was awarded as 'Best Actress', for the same movie. Award for 'Best Movie' was grabbed by 'Jana Gana Mana' while award for 'Best Director' was won by Ravi Jadhav, for his movie, 'Natrang'.
On 28th October, Marathi people in South Africa enjoyed a very special moment in form of the event, 'Dinner with Stars'. They not only enjoyed the opportunity to have a open dialogue with their beloved stars but also carved those lifetime memories in their hearts and offcourse, on their cameras.
Famous Indian Actor, Mr. Atul Kulkarni shared his intellectual side with his fans on 30th October 2012 and gave invaluable input on various social and political issues regarding lives of every common man. His philanthropic venture, Quest, was launched for the first time in Africa Continent and everyone was touched with the objectives he has got. Famous Dierctor, Mr. Amit Abhyankar supported the talkshow of Mr. Atul Kulkarni by conveying selected questions by his fans in South Africa to the actor.
All the fans of Marathi Cinema watched the following movies in Indian Cultural Center, Johannesburg till 5th November:
- Kaksparsh
- Natrang
- Valu
- Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai
- Gola Berij
- Harishchandrachi Factory
- Mee Sindhutai Sapkal
- Jana Gana Man
- Khel Mandala
- Zenda
'Utkarsh Marathi Film Festival' offered Marathi speaking community in South Africa a real Marathi entertainment and made their dreams come true by giving them and opportunity to have a close encounter with their heartthrobs.
Now South Africa is waiting for the next event, Utkarsh Marathi Film Festival for the year 2013 !